AIPU chief: Concern for Arab causes must be translated into action

CAIRO, May 21 (KUNA) -- Arab Inter-parliamentary Union Chairperson Fozia bin Abdullah Zenel on Saturday affirmed significance of Arabs' solidarity for defending the nation's key issues namely the Palestinian cause.
Zenel, addressing inaugural session of the 33rd conference of the Arab Inter-parliamentary Union, also affirmed that the concern for this issue must be translated into action and practical steps.
She called on her peers to decry Israeli attacks that targeted the Palestinians recently and arbitrary practices against the Palestinians in Jerusalem. "Current challenges should prompt us to stand in one rank," Zenel stressed.
The AIPU chairperson sternly condemned recent killing of the Palestinian journalist, Shirine Abu Aqleh, in Jenin, saying what had happened constituted "a crime that breached international and humanitarian laws and norms and principles and was flagrant infringement on media and press freedoms." Zenel, from Bahrain, asked attendees at start of her speech to observe a minute of silence in homage to recent death of the UAE president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and expressed deep condolences to Abu Dhabi. (end) ms.rk